The Last Detail

1973

Action / Comedy / Drama

Synopsis

Two bawdy, tough looking navy lifers - "Bad-Ass" Buddusky, and "Mule" Mulhall - are commissioned to escort a young pilferer named Meadows to the brig in Portsmouth. Meadows is not much of a thief. Indeed, in his late teens, he is not much of a man at all. His great crime was to try to steal forty dollars from the admiral's wife's pet charity. For this, he's been sentenced to eight years behind bars. At first, Buddusky and Mulhall view the journey as a paid vacation, but their holiday spirits are quickly depressed by the prisoner, who looks prepared to break into tears at any moment. And he has the lowest self-image imaginable. Buddusky gets it into his head to give Meadows a good time and teach him a bit about getting on in the world. Lesson one: Don't take every card life deals you. Next, he teaches Meadows to drink, and, as a coup de grace, finds a nice young whore to instruct him in lovemaking. Mule, who worries aloud about his own position with military authority, seems pleased ...

Two bawdy, tough looking navy lifers - "Bad-Ass" Buddusky, and "Mule" Mulhall - are commissioned to escort a young pilferer named Meadows to the brig in Portsmouth. Meadows is not much of a thief. Indeed, in his late teens, he is not much of a man at all. His great crime was to try to steal forty dollars from the admiral's wife's pet charity. For this, he's been sentenced to eight years behind bars. At first, Buddusky and Mulhall view the journey as a paid vacation, but their holiday spirits are quickly depressed by the prisoner, who looks prepared to break into tears at any moment. And he has the lowest self-image imaginable. Buddusky gets it into his head to give Meadows a good time and teach him a bit about getting on in the world. Lesson one: Don't take every card life deals you. Next, he teaches Meadows to drink, and, as a coup de grace, finds a nice young whore to instruct him in lovemaking. Mule, who worries aloud about his own position with military authority, seems pleased ...

Tech specs

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by christopher-underwood7 / 10

let it all hang out world of Hal Ashby

Having recently watched two immaculately directed movies from each end of the 70s, the wild gore fest that is Fulci's, Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) and the wondrous Tristana (1970) from Bunuel, I am thrust into the laid back, let it all hang out world of Hal Ashby. Both the other films it is clear that the director has a clear visual and complete control, even if they are starkly different films. Here Ashby delights it letting, things happen. Nicholson was clearly given his head and allowed to let things run, not only away from his director, but himself. Nevertheless there is something endearing about Last Detail and I'm sure its director would agree that a fixed notion of what was going to happen all the time would have ben too stifling for him. For me one result of this casual approach is that not everything works and the actors seem to be having more fun than me but maybe that's too harsh. Certainly worth seeing and influential in its own way. For good or bad.

Alternately funny, ribald, rude, candid, thoughtful and occasionally boring odyssey of three sailors on liberty. Signalman First Class Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and Gunner's Mate First Class Mulhall (Otis Young) are assigned to escort young Seaman Meadows (Randy Quaid) from Norfolk, Virginia to a naval prison in Maine; Meadows, a chronic shoplifter, attempted to steal $40 from a polio charity collection box and was handed a stiff eight-year sentence in the brig ("Six with two years off"). Getting to know each other on the train heading north, Buddusky and Mulhall take pity on their virginal captive and decide to make the most of their free time with some carousing in Washington, D.C. and in New York City. A few of their pit-stops--to a bar to get loaded, to a men's room to pick a fight with a few Marines, and finally to a whorehouse--are de rigueur for a military piece (one almost expects it); however, a side-trip to a Buddhist chanting session is rather disarming, and the three men look both ridiculous and wonderful while cooking wieners outdoors in the dead of winter. Written by Oscar-nominated Robert Towne, adapting Darryl Ponicsan's novel, the film has to go a long way on dialogue, and some of Towne's chatty passages just feel like filler. Still, while the picture isn't exactly witty, it does have some very funny scenes, and the acting is terrific (Nicholson and Quaid were both Oscar-nominated--Quaid in what is probably the best acting of his career). Michael Chapman's "colorless" color cinematography took some criticism in 1973 for being too dark, though it looks great today. Hal Ashby's too-leisurely direction is prodded by amiable and subtly moving moments. **1/2 from ****

Reviewed by alexanderdavies-9938210 / 10

A great blend of comedy and drama.

Jack Nicholson truly excelled as one of the hardened and rowdy sailors whose job it is, to deliver a fellow sailor to a military prison after the latter has been convicted of a petty crime (and I mean petty - 8 year sentence just for taking money). At the last moment, the two sailors escorting the convict decide to allow the guilty man one last time of enjoyment before he begins his sentence. Randy Quaid as the convicted sailor brings a sense of vulnerability and naivety to his role. The character has led a bit of a sheltered life and isn't exactly the criminal type. He is looked upon with some sympathy as the three main characters get to know one another during their adventures across the country. All thoughts of delivering Quaid to the military prison are put on hold as fights with the army ensure, the sailors getting drunk together, mixing with women of ill repute etc. It is shown how two of the sailor characters are confronting various facets about themselves during the film. As a result, their own status quo has been restored as the convicted sailor is finally escorted and Jack Nicholson and Otis Young go off on their merry way back to their Headquarters, forgetting about what they have all just been through. "The Last Detail" is more of a character study than anything else and the film succeeds very well. The main reason for the "X" certificate, was due to the foul language - of which there is plenty!